Ohio native Luke Farrell returns to add depth to the Reds pitching staff

The Cincinnati Reds made several transactions on Friday afternoon. One of which was claiming pitcher Luke Farrell off waivers from the Chicago Cubs. Farrell appeared in four games for the Cubs, two of which were in relief.

Farrell is no stranger to Cincinnati. The right-hander, who was born in Westlake and attended high school at St. Ignatius in Cleveland, pitched for the Reds back in 2017.

Farrell pitched well for the Redlegs that year. In nine games, eclipsing 10.1 innings, Farrell recorded a 2.61 ERA despite having the same number of strikeouts (7) as walks.

Ohio native Luke Farrell returns to add depth to the Reds pitching staff.

Luke Farrell has allowed 12 hits in 11 innings of work this season. One thing that Farrell has not done so far this season is walk too many batters. Farrell, according to FanGraphs, has a 6.3% walk-rate.

Free passes have been something that has plagued Farrell throughout his major league career. The 31-year-old owns a career walk-rate of 11.4%. In fact, while with the Texas Rangers organization in 2020, Farrell walked 18.5% of the batters he faced.

Despite the likely returns of Graham Ashcraft and Hunter Greene in the next week or so, Cincinnati needs pitching depth with the upcoming schedule. The Reds have a doubleheader against the Pittsburgh Pirates next Tuesday and a twin-billing versus the first-place St. Louis Cardinals a week from Saturday.

Whether Cincinnati plans to use the Ohio native out of the bullpen or as a starter in one of the upcoming doubleheaders has yet to be revealed, but regardless, the Reds need a few extra arms heading into next week.

The Cincinnati Reds already had a spot open on the 40-man roster after designating Colin Moran for assignment. But in order to activate Matt Reynolds from the IL, Cincinnati DFA'd Albert Almora Jr. as well. The Reds 40-man roster is currently sitting at 39.